The brothers Zygmunt and Wiesław Łyjak lived with their parents– Julianna and Wiktor– in Kępa Gostecka near Puławy. Both were very involved in helping Jewish people during the war.
During the occupation, Zygmunt and his father supplied food to the ghetto in Opole Lubelskie, where the family’s friends, the three brothers: Josl, Abram and Cudyk, had been relocated.
Wiktor and Zygmunt convinced the three brothers to flee their transport to a death camp and hide in the family’s barn, where the brothers brought them food and disposed of any waste.
The Łyjaks also helped two Jewish tailors, sheltering them and telling the neighbours that the newcomers were relatives from Volhynia. When the two tailors became involved in the underground movement and left their shelter with the Łyjaks, the Polish family kept looking out for them: once a week, the Łyjak boys would ride out on horseback and bring food to their former guests in their new hiding place in the forest.
The Lyjak Family
Story of Rescue - The Lyjak Family
Other Stories of Rescue in the Area
Bibliography
- Archiwum Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego, 349, 20
- Gutman Israel red. nacz., Księga Sprawiedliwych wśród Narodów Świata, Ratujący Żydów podczas Holocaustu
